Civil Court Jurisdictions

Civil courts have been responsible for many actions that offer information, both biographical and genealogical, about the people who have appeared to settle legal issues. A record of those cases has been created and maintained by a local civil court, sometimes called the county court, probate court, orphan's court, curcuit court, or chancery court. The types of records to look for in one of those courts include:

Dockets - adoption, appeals, appearance, bankruptcy, claims, divorce, name changes, and lunacy Case Files - adoption, appeals, bankruptcy, criminal, divorce, lunacy judgments - appeals, bills of sale, decisions, decrees, fines, liens, opinions, reports, verdicts Minutes - descriptive entries of all actions heard by the court Orders - actions, attachments, executions, foreclosures, indictments, injunctions, jury lists, presentments, proceedings, stays, summons, subpoenas, and warrants. Civil court records have remained in the custody of the court in which they were created and can be obtained from the court clerk.

Genealogists have abstracted and indexed probate records for many locations. Copies of those publications and thousands of microfilmed probate minute and order books can be found at the LDS Family History Library, its local Family History Centers, and in the genealogy collections of private, local, state, and university libraries throughout the country.

Always check probate records to see if an ancestor, or anyone, who might have been related to him, left property that had to be disposed of by law!

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